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All nations need some form of productivity plan which outlines the broad thrusts their government intends to make to improve the well-being of the maximum number of its citizens – but most do not have such a plan, and the few that do don’t let their citizens know much about it
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Cynics ask ‘why bother?’
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Governments invariably get things wrong when they try to grow businesses – ‘most ministers have never run anything and couldn’t even run a whelk stall’
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But there’s much that only governments can do to encourage and support private sector growth – one only has to look at the stellar results obtained by China, Japan and Singapore and the significant role their governments played
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So where are we now?
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According to The Times: “There’s no discernible moves to rebalance G7 economies towards higher added-value industries offering further GDP and prosperity growth”
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In developed markets, stability and then more growth was sought largely via QE (Quantitative Easing) and ZIRPs (Zero Interest Rate Policies)
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But now there’s few exciting national projects in the pipeline that address national productivity needs and ‘get pulses racing’:
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In the UK, an exception has been the concept of a Northern Powerhouse being created in the North of England, merging Manchester and Liverpool into one mega-city with greatly improved physical and digital connectivity, and possibly extending this across the Pennines to include Leeds through to Hull – whether this will eventually materialise is another matter
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There’s also plenty of austerity programmes ongoing but cost cutting of waste and wasteful activities is a limited exercise – once completed, those gains cannot be repeated
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The fact is that all governments need a long term plan for growth – and one they publish so electorates not only know what to expect but also can enthuse about
